The Emperor and Him

[Career-minded Empress VS lovesick minister]

The little princess Ying Zhao was adored by the emperor. Spoiled by his favor, she was arrogant and domineering, and openly stole her elder brother's study companion.

Back then, Ying Zhao could have anything she wanted.

But good times never last. Her birth mother fell out of favor, and Ying Zhao was sent along with her to the Cold Palace.

In the harem, people fawn on the powerful and trample the fallen. Once she lost her status, she became someone anyone could kick while she was down.

Pei Jiming came from the main line of the Pei clan. He was handsome and distinguished, and should have become a prince's study companion, but because of her, he became a laughingstock.

She thought Pei Jiming must hate her.

But later, when she became a discarded child of the Cold Palace, the only person who treated her well was the taciturn Pei Jiming.

"Your Highness," he said, "don't give up on yourself."

Life in the Cold Palace was hard. She and her mother hoped that if they could endure the winter, the emperor might show them mercy.

But what awaited them was the Mandarin Duck Pot.

Turn it one way, and it poured poisoned wine; turn it again, and it poured fine liquor. Life and death rested in the emperor's hands.

The little princess's innocence was buried along with her mother on the day she died.

She grew up through hardship, saw how people fawned on the powerful, and gradually developed a desire for power and status.

She courted ministers, schemed and plotted, and coveted the highest seat, just like her brothers.

She trusted no one, but she had the perfect blade at her disposal.

"Brother Jiming, I want that imperial crown. Would you get it for me?"

"Of course."

Just as when they were children, he never refused her anything she asked for.

In the winter of the twentieth year of Changqing, the emperor died.

Ying Zhao ascended the throne as a woman.

The young Lord Pei raised his cup in a toast:

"May you, Zhao Zhao, enjoy peace and good fortune, and shine as brightly as the sun and moon."

The Pei family did indeed want the merit of helping the new emperor ascend the throne, but the person they backed was never her.

From beginning to end, the only one standing by her side was Pei Jiming.

Ying Zhao did not want to lose.

She never imagined that the secret plot on that spring day would cut off every possibility between her and Pei Jiming.

Nor did she ever imagine that one day, she and Pei Jiming would drink from the Mandarin Duck Pot together.

In all the years that followed, she never saw him again.

Only an eternal lamp remained in the Hall of Eternal Life, burning as a promise to stay together forever.

Theme: A bright future is earned through one's own efforts